Wednesday, August 21, 2013

when the end of summer is like the last slice of pie

You want to savor it. And gobble it all up at the same time.

You bemoan the fact that is nearly done, but long to enjoy the last few lazy days. Making pie takes work and preparation, and so has this summer. We've planned trips, we've made a list, we've worked hard on fitting in exactly all we wanted to do. Now that it's nearly said and done we are sad. But we are also hopeful for next. The seasons drift on and even though I've loved all of this summer, I'm also very much looking forward the season next. Fall. School. Routine. Candles. And more writing time. I love the pulling in that fall seems to do for our family, it takes our busy ways and deposits us all back home.

As summer is winding down I find myself doing little mental snapshots of the right now moments that have marked summer.

Berry stained hands from a morning picking blackberries.

The way their hair blows long behind them on their bikes.

The smell of sand and lake on our sun kissed shoulders.

Lazy mornings spent over another cup of coffee out in the garden while the little people sleep in.

Late nights watching stars and visiting family and friends.

Summer is all glorious, if not a little tedious. We get worn and sun scorched and tired. But we love each moment and this season has been good.

But there's always the next. When summer's berry pies give way to autumn apples. Both are good, but they're also so different.

So even as we say goodbye to this season and our little cupboard gets filled up with back to school necessities, I fondly embrace the right now of in between. We have one foot firmly planted on summer, and one foot picked up and headed towards fall. The tension between the two is hard to deal with sometimes, but it pushes us towards what will come next. I am learning to embrace the right now moments of this in between, the next two weeks of summer and one last big trip before we dive headlong into fall.

I love this time or year, not really because summer is my favorite but because I've learned to embrace each fleeting season as though it is the best life has to give. There's a certain joy in embracing where you are and enjoying it.